A man who lost both hands in a train accident is the first to receive a double hand transplant in India.

The 30-year-old, Manu, received both the hands of a 24-year-old victim of a traffic accident, the first operation of its type in a developing country.

"The operation lasted for 16 hours with more than 20 surgeons participating in the procedure,” said Dr Subramania Iyer, Professor and Head of the Plastic Surgery Department at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in the south-western city of Cochi.

"Each hand required connecting two bones, two arteries, four veins and about 14 tendons.”

So far, there have only been 110 successful hand transplants since the first one in France 13 years ago.

Complicated: The operation lasted 16 hours but was successful

Dr. Iyer told DNAIndia: "After 14 days post-surgery, both the hands have been accepted by the recipient's body and he started regaining movement.

"Manu will be able to move his hands since his own muscles of the forearm are working to move the fingers. The sensations will return only slowly and is expected in three to four months."